Wei Yuan no longer deliberately tried to root out the inner demons hiding among the teeming mortals. His mindscape world was riddled with vulnerabilities; even if he dragged one out, another would enter, endless and inexhaustible.
The mortals within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World were numerous, and most were already enlightened and literate; they were, in fact, a formidable asset. In all of Qingming, among over thirty million people, those who were genuinely educated numbered merely five or six hundred thousand—far behind the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Wei Yuan ceased trying to do everything himself and instead stepped aside, letting the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World take the reins. Sure enough, in less than half a day, the mortals had devised countless proposals. Among them, over a hundred were remarkably viable, and several were concepts Wei Yuan had never even dared to imagine.
Confronted with so many plans, Wei Yuan pondered for a long while before finally selecting one titled "Steady Advance and Patient Planning" to put into practice. This was a long-term strategy divided into multiple phases. The first phase required setting up spiritual qi monitoring mechanisms throughout the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to accurately measure the rate of spiritual qi consumption on both sides in this war against the otherworldly monsters.
This step appeared unrelated to the warfare itself, but it was actually of paramount importance, as its outcome would directly dictate the subsequent strategy.
Wei Yuan therefore issued orders mobilizing over one hundred thousand mortals to venture out to sea. With the assistance of the immortal plants, after more than ten days, they finally established monitoring devices across every corner of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, including the depths of the ocean.
Simultaneously, Wei Yuan enacted the "Drawing Boundaries as Prison" policy.
Under this policy, every mortal in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was to be registered in the official census. During registration, each mortal had to explicitly detail their current cultivation, abilities, innate divine arts, and so forth, all of which were entered into the records. After registration, if anyone demonstrated abilities vastly divergent from their recorded profile without a reasonable explanation, they would be arrested, imprisoned, and tested for inner demons.
This method effectively locked every mortal's current status into place. The celestial demons possessed all manner of secret arts capable of causing their hosts' cultivation to soar by leaps and bounds; breaking through from the Dao Foundation into Scenery Command within a year or so was by no means impossible. Now, however, the moment they dared to do so, they would be exposed instantly. After all, carrying fifty jin of water looked entirely different for someone with a hundred jin of strength versus someone with a thousand.
Consequently, the inner demons could only remain trapped within mortal vessels. If they cultivated, they would be caught, but if they did not cultivate, they lacked formidable might and could accomplish nothing of consequence. Wei Yuan could not even be bothered to pay them heed.
In the blink of an eye, over a month slipped by. By this time, word had already spread across the world that Wei Yuan was attempting to advance to Scenery Command, only for something to go awry during his heavenly tribulation.
The countless cultivators of the outside world naturally did not know the exact nature of Wei Yuan's predicament. But whatever the problem was, as long as he failed to break through to Scenery Command, everyone was thoroughly delighted.
By now, within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, the monitoring network had been active for over ten days, and the initial data analysis was finally ready.
The figures showed that due to the ongoing conflict against the celestial fiends, the consumption of spiritual qi within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had surged dramatically. Although the three grotto-heavens absorbed the primal energy of heaven and earth at an astounding rate—with an intake far exceeding that of ordinary Scenery Command cultivators—on the whole, it still fell short of what was being spent.
Fortunately, the three grotto-heavens had only just formed and were growing at their fastest pace; it would not be long before they could offset the deficit. In the meantime, Wei Yuan could rely on medicinal pills to replenish his spiritual qi.
The monitoring network had also gathered a wealth of data on the otherworldly monsters. At present, merely sustaining those purple-spotted pocket worlds across the firmament was equivalent to a peak Scenery Command cultivator exerting their full might. And this was not a matter of a few strikes here and there, but a ceaseless, round-the-clock exertion.
Furthermore, the monsters invading the realm also required spiritual qi to sustain themselves. Fighting within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, they naturally suffered distortion and suppression, which sharply inflated their consumption of spiritual qi during battle. And whenever one fell in combat, the loss was even more severe.
After analyzing all the data, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World reached a conclusion: the celestial monsters summoned by the inner demons to assault the realm were consuming the equivalent of five Scenery Command cultivators exerting their full power day and night without rest. If the fallen monsters were factored in, it was equivalent to twelve Scenery Command cultivators exerting themselves simultaneously. Meanwhile, the daily intake of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was equivalent to that of a single standard Scenery Command cultivator from the Palace of Grand Beginning.
In other words, for every portion of spiritual qi Wei Yuan consumed, the otherworldly monsters had to spend twelve portions. And that was without even counting the expenditure required to maintain the conduits.
Once the report's conclusions were drawn, Wei Yuan's spirits were instantly lifted. In the entire Palace of Grand Beginning, Scenery Command cultivators numbered only around thirty or forty; Wei Yuan, by his own efforts, was holding off what amounted to nearly half the Palace of Grand Beginning.
This heavenly tribulation was turning out to be quite intriguing.
With this conclusion in hand, the plan officially entered its second phase. The core of this phase was to ignore the inner demons and devote everything to augmenting their warmaking capability, focusing primarily on fighting the otherworldly monsters. They would employ every conceivable method to maximize battle results while minimizing consumption, widening the disparity in losses between both sides—effectively bleeding the enemy dry at negligible cost to themselves.
In this phase, the methods at their disposal multiplied.
With a wave of his hand, Wei Yuan established over a dozen specialized research institutes and embarked on the development of more than a hundred types of war materiel all at once.
The All Living Beings Are Equal War Rig Research Institute once again took center stage in Wei Yuan's attention. What it was currently developing was a large-scale war platform that could shuttle between the ground and the firmament, functioning as a fully operational fortress of war in its own right.
Beyond that, research began on protective gear and dharma artifacts for various types of cultivators, with large-scale war Dao arts cast cooperatively by multiple cultivators being the utmost priority.
At this point, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had fully transitioned into total war mode.
Within the quiet chamber, Wei Yuan finally opened his eyes, concluding this round of secluded cultivation. After over a month of seclusion, the combat within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had stabilized into a stalemate. For now, Wei Yuan needed to consume one Scenery Command-grade Qi-replenishing pill each day, costing around ten thousand taels of immortal silver.
To the Wei Yuan of today, such an expense was negligible. Thus, he emerged leisurely from seclusion, prepared to resume all the affairs he had temporarily set aside.
Upon emerging, Wei Yuan convened the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning and informed them of his situation. Hearing his tale, the cultivators were at a loss for words. It appeared their realm lord planned to undergo his tribulation while simply carrying on with his normal life—eating when it was time to eat, sleeping when it was time to sleep.
Xu Henshui offered to supply all the pills Wei Yuan required; a Qi-replenishing pill was merely the most common Scenery Command pill, and Xu Henshui possessed enough skill to refine them, if with some effort. If Qingming refined the medicine internally, they could save another seventy percent of the cost.
Wei Yuan was naturally overjoyed; any savings were welcome. Next came the discussion of Qingming's daily development. During Wei Yuan's seclusion, Zhang Sheng and a faction of cultivators, unwilling to idle away their time, had once again pushed for a major military expansion.
However, enemies were nowhere to be found in the surrounding regions. Even officials from the State of Zhao spoke with genial respect and punctilious courtesy, while Western Jin officials wished they could prostrate themselves on the ground the moment they met. Thus, faced with Zhang Sheng's proposal to expand the armed forces to two million within the year, Wei Yuan had not known what to say.
Another matter on the meeting's agenda was the passing of Emperor Xuan of Tang.
Emperor Xuan had passed away nearly two months ago, yet the news had only just reached Qingming. Looking at the date of Emperor Xuan's demise, the cultivators found it strikingly familiar. Xiaoyu, blunt and outspoken, immediately blurted out, "Wasn't Emperor Xuan's death on the very day Wei Yuan destroyed the first inner demon? Haha, it couldn't actually have something to do with our realm lord, could it?"
Xiaoyu laughed a few times, only to realize the room had fallen utterly silent. No one spoke; every pair of eyes was fixed on him. His laughter trailed off, and he mumbled sheepishly, "I was just making casual conversation..."
Feng Chutang said solemnly, "This matter can be considered minor, or it can be considered momentous. We are far off in the Western Regions, so the succession of the Tang dynasty generally has little to do with us. But Emperor Xuan has passed without any mention of a successor, which makes things rather curious. I hear his eldest child is barely four years old—hardly able to shoulder the throne."
Ji Liuli turned to Zhang Sheng. "You seemed to have learned the news earlier?"
Zhang Sheng nodded. "Bao Yun received word from her clan. The Bao family specifically transmitted the news via Dao arts. Thus, when we first found out, Emperor Xuan had been dead for only ten days."
Hearing this, Wei Yuan realized that Zhang Sheng had not pushed for military expansion without reason. Initially, the cultivators felt that Qingming's standing army of 1.5 million was sufficient. Yet as soon as the news of Emperor Xuan's demise arrived, Zhang Sheng immediately adjusted the target to two million, aiming to add at least five hundred thousand standing troops within the year.
The Tang Emperor dies, and Qingming expands its army. Wei Yuan figured that if he were a court grandee, he would undoubtedly pin treason charges on Qingming one way or another.
Yet on second thought, back when Qingming had merely five hundred thousand troops, Western Jin was already powerless against them. If they truly possessed an army of two million, he doubted any imperial decree indicting Qingming would even make it out of the imperial study.
***
In the imperial palace of Great Tang, the Empress Dowager sat in the mourning hall clad in plain white mourning robes, tears still glistening at the corners of her eyes as she stared blankly at the posthumous portrait on the wall.
The vast mourning hall was entirely empty; every supervising eunuch and palace maid had been driven out. Over recent days, several dozen maids and eunuchs had been beaten to death over trivial matters, leaving everyone trembling in fear.
Footsteps echoed in the hall—steady and heavy. The King of Jin, his face ruddy and dark, entered the mourning hall and walked up behind the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager said coldly, "What are you here for again?"
The King of Jin sighed. "I have already investigated. Those imperial consorts and maidens in the palace that day all had clean backgrounds; no one put them up to anything. Therefore—"
The Empress Dowager suddenly flared up. "What do you mean 'clean backgrounds' and 'no one put them up to it'?! I don't care! My son is dead, and everyone connected to this must be buried with him! I don't care what excuse you make—in short, all nine clans of everyone who was in my son's palace that day will be executed! I have no time to hunt down the true culprit slowly; let them all be slaughtered together!"
The King of Jin sighed and said, "That is a minor matter; I will do as you wish. However, with no new sovereign enthroned, the court and the populace are rife with talk."
The Empress Dowager said coldly, "I am merely a woman; what say do I have? Enthrone whomever you wish. In any case, Great Tang's realm is reduced to a scrap of land; sooner or later, it will bear another surname."
The King of Jin gently embraced the Empress Dowager from behind. She struggled twice without breaking free and snapped in vexation, "My son is barely dead, and even you come to bully me?"
"How could I ever bully you? Don't you know my heart?"
"Then tell me: who should be enthroned as the new sovereign?"
The King of Jin gave a wry smile before answering, "Fraternal succession is not without precedent. My only fear is—"
The Empress Dowager placed her hand over the King of Jin's mouth, her expression turning pleased. "I knew you still had me in your heart."
A month later, Emperor Xuan's younger brother ascended the throne as Emperor Jing at the age of sixteen. He changed the reign era to Hongjing and issued an imperial decree proclaiming a general amnesty throughout the realm.
Three months later, Emperor Xuan's eldest son slipped and fell into the water. Before the palace maids and supervising eunuchs could rescue him, he drowned. A few days later, a fire broke out in the palace, and Emperor Xuan's youngest son, who had just turned one year old, perished in the blaze.
As for Emperor Xuan's empress, overwhelmed by grief to the point of madness, she was transferred by the Empress Dowager to the Jingsi Convent within the palace for secluded meditation.
Not a shred of news regarding this series of court upheavals leaked out; none of the ministers of the court were aware of what had transpired. Yet somehow, someone suddenly raised an uprising on the borders of the State of Ji, issuing a call to arms across the realm, claiming to act upon Emperor Xuan's posthumous edict to subdue the usurping rebels.
The manifesto pointed its blade directly at the King of Jin and the Empress Dowager, accusing them of conspiring to murder Emperor Xuan and subsequently slaying his two young sons and a daughter. It alleged that Emperor Jing, who now occupied the throne under the guise of an imperial descendant, was in truth the bastard child born of an illicit affair between the King of Jin and the Empress Dowager.
This manifesto shook the entire world. However, the State of Ji was currently racked by instability, beset by troubles both foreign and domestic; several military expeditions sent to suppress the uprising were routed ignominiously. Out of every ten soldiers dispatched, as many as seven were swayed to defect and joined the enemy ranks.
In no time, the rebel army grew immensely in power and prestige, while the other feudal states looked on coldly. Emperor Jing issued several edicts in succession, but only four states responded, scraping together a paltry eight thousand troops in total to march to the capital to protect the throne.
Left with no other choice, Emperor Jing promulgated an edict across the realm, declaring that any loyal subject of the Tang dynasty who received the decree was authorized to raise troops of their own accord to suppress the rebels.
In the eighth month of the first year of Hongjing, while locked in fierce battle against the inner demons, Wei Yuan unrolled the newly arrived decree to crush the rebels, examining it character by character.
Chapter 953